Offbeat News

A South Carolina man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for stealing an $80 slab of meat. The Times and Democrat of Orangeburg reported Thursday that 51-year-old Mark Zachary of Orangeburg received the maximum sentence after jurors found him guilty Wednesday of shoplifting. Prosecutors said the sentence was justified because the Aug. 26 theft from Reid's grocery store in Orangeburg was his ninth offense....Source

A 14-month-old boy in China is recovering after doctors removed a chopstick from his brain that accidentally poked up through his nose, a spokesman for the local hospital said Thursday....Source

FOUR police officers – with marksmen on standby – gave chase when a cow escaped from a lorry taking it to the abbattoir....Source

Oxmoor House on Friday recalled nearly 1 million home improvement books because of errors that could lead do-it-yourselfers to make risky mistakes while installing or repairing their electrical wiring....Source

A Japanese man is being credited with tying the 77-year-old world record for catching the biggest largemouth bass....Source

A New York couple's Mega Millions win has come with some legal trouble. Richard and Mary Morrison are set to be introduced as the winners of the lottery's $165 million jackpot Thursday, but Suffolk County claims nearly $1 million of the winnings is owed to them, reports CBS station WCBS-TV....Source

A Swiss court has slapped a wealthy speeder with a chalet-sized fine — a full $290,000....Source

Cats. Dogs. Those can be fighting words in some circles. Cats are "nasty, stinking creatures," says Mark David of Warrensburg, Mo. And dogs? They're noisy, disruptive and "lick you and themselves," counters Sanford Reikes of Louisville, Ky. Clearly, there are dog people and there are cat people. But it's not much of a contest: 74 percent of people like dogs a lot, and only 41 percent like cats a lot....Source

A MAN accused of having sex with a horse and a donkey failed to turn up at court today, resulting in a warrant being issued for his arrest.....Source

Move over, Virgin Mary Grilled Cheese. Step aside, Fish Stick Jesus. Online bidders, meet the Holy Cross Potato. Both of them. Yes, the 2009 holiday season bestowed (at least) two miraculous spuds with crosses at their centers. Aside from the sizes of the spuds, the main difference is price....Source